The European SuslabNWE study (2012-2015) saw 11 partners from Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK come together to investigate energy use in the home. At the Royal College of Art, our work in partnership with SustainRCA looked at bringing together two practices ± that of inclusive design and environmental sustainability. Both often have different starting points, with inclusive design usually focusing on needs and capabilities at the domestic scale, and sustainability typically addressing large systemic change.

A major project output this year was a publication entitled Drawing Energy, based on a drawing-based research project to explore people's perceptions of energy. People were asked to write, draw or illustrate their thoughts and reactions to the question `What does energy look like?' More than 180 members of the public took part in the project. The study moves beyond the idea of measuring energy in a numerical way to explore how people relate to energy in a more visual or metaphorical way. The work represented in the book builds on a history of using drawing as a tool for research and as a way to enable people to fully express their ideas and imagination. The website: www.drawingenergy.com accompanies the book, which was published in July 2015.